Death toll from Bangladesh landslides rises to 134 after heavy rain

DHAKA (Reuters) - At least 134 people were killed in Bangladesh when a series landslides triggered by heavy rain buried hillside homes, officials said on Wednesday.

Densely populated Bangladesh is battered by storms, floods and landslides every rainy season.

The landslides hit three hilly districts in the southeast early on Tuesday, killing 98 people in Rangamati, 30 in Chittagong and six in Bandarban, said Reaz Ahmed, head of the department of disaster management.

The death toll could rise further as rescuers search for bodies and many people are still missing, he told Reuters.

"Rescue operations are being hampered by bad weather while authorities are still struggling to reach some remote areas," Ahmed said.

The dead include four soldiers who had joined the rescue operation in Rangamati when another landslide occurred, he said.

The latest fatalities came weeks after Cyclone Mora lashed Bangladesh's southeast, killing at least seven people and damaging tens of thousands of homes.

In 2007, about 130 people were killed in a landslide in Chittagong in the southeast.